The Scent of Bliss – 9

What was down that hall? A noise? A shape? What is following me? Closer, around the corner, something looms, something sinister. What is it? … A hand reaches out from behind me and grasps my own with a smile. The scent of leather, woods, chocolate, and coffee catches my senses. “Run,” he says. And I do. I run to the stars through Time and Space and I never look back.

9 is a balanced and rich leather-incense blend with hints of gourmand black coffee chocolate in the background. Perfect for all gals and guys traveling with the man in a blue box.

Primary notes: leather, chocolate, oud, musk, dragonsblood, coffee

Did you miss these? I missed doing them. I had a flood of goings-on and needed to take a break, but I’m back in it – and to make it more fun and interesting, there are a few scents from a new maker in the mix? I’ve tested one of them today, in celebration: 9, a scent from Sarawen Perfume Art inspired by the first Doctor of the modern reboot of the famous BBC series.

I was both excited and nervous, opening this one; I so very much wanted to like it, particularly since it’s inspired by one of my favorite fandoms, and by a regen of the Doctor that I particularly love and wish there could have been more of. As it was, I was delighted by the mere packaging. A sample size from Sarawen is 1.5mL, where most perfume oil samples are only .75 to 1mL, and rather than being in the standard skinny glass vial it’s an adorbs squat-and-fat number with a screwcap. I have to say, I dig this vial in a big way. Screwing off the top beats those pop-em-out ones, even with the attached wand, by miles.

But you’re not here for the packaging, even really good packaging – you’re here for the smells.

I opened the bottle and took a whiff. LEATHER. That leather jacket! That hits the nose first, and strong, like burying your face in it. It was immediately backed by something darker, almost woody; The Doctor’s Sorrow. Following on their heels were fainter but distinct scents of chocolate and coffee – perfect for the Doctor that calls every disaster fantastic, and dives with all energy into turning it into something good.

Already I was pleased, and on the skin it went. LEATHER. Also, Chocolate, leather, ozone, leather, leather, and did I mention leather? The leather doesn’t dominate, exactly, but it’s a running thread in and out and around all of the scents, and clinging closest to it in that omnipresence is the ozone smell. I could almost taste it, the way that it tastes when you put your tongue across the two contact points of a nine-volt…. what? Don’t give me that look, I can’t be the ONLY kid who ever did that. suffice to say it’s a very distinct smell, like copper and electricity and energy. I can only imagine that it’s what the Time Vortex must smell like, and it would make sense for the Doctor to have it clinging to him.

Once it dries on the skin, it goes very subtle, caught in faint whiffs; leather here, chocolate there, a smidge of ozone clarity cut off by a wee zing of coffee. It remains subtle but lasts for hours, and I kept catching myself sniffing at my skin all day, and once I held it to my ear, just to see – hear – if I could catch the round rhythmic scree of the TARDIS coming in for a landing in miniature in the valley of the lines on my wrist.

Some of the scents I’ve been trying, I like. Some I could take or leave. A rare few I actually wash off and don’t want to contemplate wearing again.

This one is on a very short list of Scents Of Which I Intend To Buy A Full Size Bottle. I’m very tempted to get the entire Blue Box Sampler that contains sample sizes of the scents Sarawen has created for 9, 10, and 11. More 9 is awesome, and I truest that 10 and 11 would probably be just as amazing.